Composition

Course System Home All Areas of Study Composition

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Term
Time & Day Offered
Level
Credits
Course Duration

About Time — MCO4109.01

Instructor: Nicholas Brooke
Days & Time: MO,TH 3:40pm-5:30pm
Credits: 4

In this course, students will work on an extended piece (10+ minutes), as well as a suite of miniatures (< 30 seconds). By playing with scale and continuity, students will be challenged to find their own way to extend their ideas while enriching their own musical language. Students can propose a piece in any style or forces, and we will work together to

Composing for Drum Set — MCO2131.02

Instructor: Michael Wimberly
Days & Time: TH 10:00am-11:50am
Credits: 1

This 7 week course will shift how drummers think and play the drum set. Students will be encouraged to move beyond just playing beats and grooves to thinking more compositionally. If you are able to play the drums, we will not completely ignore rhythms, however,learning how the drum set can be a melodic and harmonic instrument is one of the

Five Obstructions — MCO4125.01

Instructor: Nicholas Brooke
Days & Time: MO,TH 3:40pm-5:30pm
Credits: 4

A song feedback collective, focused on how musical restrictions can spur us to growth. Over the course of the term, students will write five songs (or revise a single song in radical ways) based on the critique and decisions of the group. We’ll discuss how to form supportive but insightful critique while challenging each other to go new places. What does it take to create a

Movement Practice: Sénémali I- Drumming & Dancing — DAN2423.01

Instructor: Kaolack Ndiaye
Days & Time: TU,FR 8:30am-10:20am
Credits: 2

This course provides a vibrant introduction to the traditional West African rhythms and movements of the Mandingo and Wolof communities. Students will embark on a journey through both drumming and dancing disciplines, mastering intricate rhythms that will expand their musical vocabulary and enhance their dance techniques.

Music Composition Project — MCO4802.01

Instructor: Allen Shawn
Days & Time: WE 10:00am-11:50am
Credits: 2

This is a course for composers who have taken composition courses previously and have good notation skills.  Enrollment is limited to 10 students. Each student will produce a sizable piece for String Quartet. The class time will be used for analysis and study of works composed for string quartet and for examination of the student’s works-in-progress.

Orchestration — MCO4133.01

Instructor: Nicholas Brooke
Days & Time: WE 4:10pm-6:00pm
Credits: 2

A primer in orchestration, for students who are selected to write for Sage City Symphony. We will pore over the 19th and 20th century orchestral repertoire, getting to know instruments, ranges, and agilities. Analysis, piano reduction, and orchestration from grand staff will be used to internalize and hear orchestration. Students will be expected to create and

Resonance -relating to sound, movement, space and time - — DAN4378.01

Instructor: Martin Landz
Days & Time: WE 4:10pm-6:00pm
Credits: 2

A class, a laboratory that explores the relationship between movement and sound, starting with the phenomenology of sound and acoustics, and considering the translation from sound to movement.

Incorporates listening techniques and sensory perception and encourages participants, through improvisation, to draw from movement, sound, space and

Senior Projects — MCO4376.01

Instructor: Virginia Kelsey
Days & Time: MO,TH 7:00pm-8:50pm
Credits: 4

This course will serve as a workshop and forum for senior music students who are planning to present their senior projects in Spring 2026. In this course, we will meet and discuss students’ projects produced through any creative practice, including, but not limited to, performance, installation, musical show, and publication. Students will be expected to complete most of